This invention pertains to a protective hood, such as a firefighter""s hood, of as type worn, ordinarily, with a protective helmet, which may have a depending shroud to protect side and rear portions of a wearer""s head, and with a protective coat.
Protective hoods of the type noted above are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,520, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,054, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,132, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, and are available commercially from Morning Pride Manufacturing, L.L.C. of Dayton, Ohio.
As exemplified in those patents, protective hoods have respective head-covering and shoulder-covering portions made from similar, comparatively heavier, thermally insulative material, except that upper head-covering portions are made from comparatively lighter material, such as mesh or netting, which allows thermal energy to pass readily.
Protective hoods of related interest are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,217 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,065.
Protective hoods of the type noted above are worn not only by firefighters but also by rescue workers, race car drivers, and others.
This invention provides a protective hood of the type noted above, with comparatively lighter material(s) being used not only at an upper head-covering section, as mentioned above, but also elsewhere where comparatively heavier, thermally insulative material(s) may not be always needed.
Generally, as provided by this invention, a protective hood has an upper head-covering section, which when the protective hood is worn covers an upper portion of a wearer""s head, an anterior head-covering section, which when the protective hood is worn covers an anterior portion of the wearer""s head, the anterior head-covering section having a window, through which portions of the wearer""s face are exposed when the protective hood is worn, a posterior head-covering section, which when the protective hood is worn covers a posterior portion of the wearer""s head, and a lower shoulder-covering portion, which when the protective hood is worn covers portions of the wearer""s shoulders.
Broadly, this invention contemplates that the anterior head-covering section is made from comparatively heavier, thermally insulative material, that the upper head-covering section is made from comparatively lighter material, and that at least one of the other sections is made from comparatively lighter material, whereby to allow thermal energy to pass readily through those sections made from comparatively lighter material. The upper head-covering section, the posterior head-covering section, and the lower shoulder-covering section may be thus made from comparatively lighter material, which may be similar material, such as similar mesh or netting material.
This invention contemplates that, in certain embodiments, the anterior head-covering section is heat-reflective. Preferably, in those embodiments, the anterior head-covering section is aluminized so as to be heat-reflective.